In The Next Life
by xwhitemoonx
Summary: In the war against the Quinces, both parties had lost so much. But to Ichigo Kurosaki, his greatest loss was the one who changed his world. But they say fate has a strange way of reuniting those who are meant to be. AU ish


**In the Next Life**

* * *

_We won, yes the Soul Society had won but it was not without a horrid price._

"Rukia! Damn it where the hell are you!" The orange haired shinigami internally screamed as his amber eyes desperately swept the wrecked grounds of the soul Society while amidst the final battle with the Quincies. The smoke was blinding him and in the background of which he drowned out was the screams and cries of thousands, no millions of soldiers from which side, the enemies of ours? He could not decipher.

In the distance he saw a tiny bundle of black amid a heap of crumbled stone. With no hesitation, he ran toward the figure chanting in his head, "Please let it be Rukia! Please let her be okay." With his katana swinging wildly from side to side, he kept running occasionally skidding and tripping over rocks and faceless bodies.

"_Hey Ichigo, this war, I'm scared. Not for myself but for those you and I care about. What if this decision was not the right one, what if challenging the Quincy was a mistake? We've seen their powers and their destructive nature and what they are capable of." She whispered with a thoughtful frown upon her face as the two laid side by side with their backs against the roof on top his house. The strawberry turned his head towards her, her face practically glowed from the moonlight. "I don't know but I do know that we'll all be alright. I mean we've overcome so much from your execution, to the Arrancars and finally Aizen himself. I know we can handle this." He said with a playful smirk on his face._

_A slight furrow in his brows soon replaced that smirk. "But Rukia, you have to promise me one thing. Don't be stupid and jumping into battles that you aren't prepared to fight." Before she could protest or hit him for the insult, he quickly continued to say, "It's not that I think your weak but because I know you are strong and you have a huge heart so you'd naturally want to help the others but sometimes, helping others is not as important as helping yourself first so please just promise me you won't make stupid choices!"He tried to stress to her. _"After all, I have something to tell you after the war is over." _He continued on thoughtfully. A soft smile appeared on her face and she thought, "Thank you Ichigo, I think I'm finally ready." _

There she was, splayed out on the bloodied cobble rock. Ichigo's vision blurred "No, please don't do this to me Rukia damn it!" He desperately hoped that eyes were playing tricks on him. "We were supposed to go back together after winning! _I was going to tell you I love you._" But he didn't say the last part out loud. A few lone tears slid down his face, "Damn it I'm too late. I'm too late again!"

A pained moan interrupted his thought and his eyes sprang open, "Rukia" he croaked as he searched her face for signs of further movement. He searched for her reiatsu, a soft hum of the familiar energy reached him he sighed in relief. He examined her face, char dirtied her face and patches of dried blood stained her forehead and shoulders. "Is it her blood?" he worried. _Jeez she is freezing_. He held her in a hug trying to keep her a bit warmer at least.

Just then, a figure proceeded by a fast blurred movement appeared behind Ichigo and was seen by Rukia as she slowly opened her violet orbs that showed endless amounts of fatigue. Then she tried to focus on the figure with her unstable vision and – she sharply into a breath and her visions sharpened out of its haze just as the figure raised his sword and pointed at Ichigo's back. "No!" she moaned. With what strength she had remaining, her arms secured Ichigo around the waist and heaved herself above his shoulders just in time for the blade to pierce her back and heart.

"What the?" ichigo thought as he slowly rotated his head just enough as she saw the blade protruding out of her back.

Time its self seemed to have stopped

He froze.

"Ru- ki- a" he whispered. He felt her finally slump against his back and his mind went blank.

"Psh I missed him" The figure said nonchalantly before griping the hilt of his katana and withdrawing the sword sharply without a hint of remorse. Rukia let out a load moan of paint before slumping down. The figure aimed again but time at Ichigo's head.

Before his sword met the target, he crossed blades with no other than the Kurosaki Ichigo himself. "I see you've finally relieved yourself of the useless woman" He sneered.

"Juhabach" He nearly screamed. There stood in front of Ichigo, the leader of the Vandenreich , the man who started it all in the first place.

His sword grinded intensely with the Quincy's, sparks flew and their fierce battle began.

* * *

_One month later _

"Please remove my soul reaper powers Urahara. I know you can do so please can you do that?" Ichigo Kurosaki dressed in his tee-shirt and jeans, almost begged the shop owner.

A look of sympathy crossed Urahara's features. "If that is what you wish for Kurosaki-kun."

_It was over, finally over, Ichigo and the rest of the captains all teamed up to fight Juhabach and nearly all perished doing so but they somehow miraculously managed to bring him down. As soon as the battle was over, Ichigo sprinted to Rukia's bloodied form which laid not far from the site of the battle. Though he sustained some serious injuries including several broken ribs and a fracture arm, he rushed over to her and rested her head on his uninjured right arm. _

_Her eyelids slowly fluttered open for what is most likely the last time. "What too-k you so long ba-ka, I was re-aally get-tting tired- of wai-ting" She said painfully with her teeth clenched and forehead covered in sweat. "Hey don't lo—ok awa-y from me- e no-w that- I've wa-ited so lo-ong." "Rukia stop talking Orihime is coming and so is Unohana just wait a bit longer." I small smile graced her lips "I think my ti-me is up. I'm so-rry but I couldn'-t hel-p but be a l-ittle stup-id and sel-fish. Thanks yo-u Ichi- "Rukia! NO WAIT! I Lov-." Her light in her eyes slowly receded before she shut them one last time. "-ve you…" _

_The other shinigamis who had gathered around the tragic couple looked away at the sad sight. Byakuya who was the most stoic and emotionless even felt his heart sink and crumble at the sight of his dead sister and her regretful lover. "I'm sorry Hisana, I couldn't protect her…" Orihime had silent tears streaming down her face as Uryu tried to confort her. It was a relief that Renji was unconscious or else he'd never live this one down. _

"I promise you Rukia, in the next life, I'll never let you go again!"

_They say twos souls who are destined to be together will always reunite despite hardship and all the obstacles in their way._

* * *

_100 years later somewhere in the world of the living_

"Hey Rukia, what's with that frown on your face, I think you did a great job on the painting! Your brother will be proud for sure this time!" Her lifelong best friend, Renji grinned at her.

"I hope you are right Renji I really do" she replied looking thoughtfully at the painting which laying on a lone stand in middle of her studio/art shop.

The picture that Rukia has so painstakingly been working on for 3 months now was finally complete. It depicted a scene on top of a large piece of land jutting out of an enormous hill. The scene was a sunset seen with a large rectangular shaped stand on the background and the silhouettes of two figures standing in front of each other. One figure has a rather spiky head while the other was abnormally short, barely reaching the tall figure's shoulders. To anyone looking at the picture, they would have thought the two figures, a man and a woman were in love.

_Ding dong_. The familiar chime to her store rang.

A drenched orange haired man came bursting through the front door or the arts and crafts shop.

"Hello? Oi short one, are you the owner? I just want to ask you sold any curry?" The man hurriedly sputtered. Unknown to Rukia, he was actually on a shopping errand for his little sister who nagged him for forgetting to buy the curry for tonight's dinner.

The said short woman slowly turned her head and with eyes on fire from rage proceeded to give the poor wet man a flying kick into the head, "Hey who are you calling short you big orange! I'm petite damn it not short!"

"From what I can see, the average human being should at least be a minimum of 5 inches taller than y-!" he retorted but stopped abruptly as his eyes landed on the painting that appeared to be the centerpiece of this dingy small shop.

"Well nothing seems to be in the orange head of yours does it? I mean who comes in here, an art shop asking for curry! I mean -"she scoffed but too stopped seething as she noticed his interest in the painting.

"Where have you seen this place before? I'm sure I've been there before too. I know it!" the orange haired man said out loud in confusion then, "Rukia…" he murmured.

"What the...how do you know my name? " The raven haired woman who too sounded confused replied while turning to face him.

At that very moment, violet eyes me amber and the background seemed to fade away into white. A myriad of flashbacks bombarded both their head but none seemed to see anything but each other. It seemed that a mutual flood of long forgot memories have passed between them, a mutual understanding and a mutual feeling of longing and regret.

"So we meet again shinigami." He said with a tiny smirk on his lips.

"It's not shinigami, its Kuchiki Rukia baka" And Rukia grinned back.

_A meeting that by definition of fate was inevitable, the two lost souls that were destined to be have finally become one_.

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**Whew finally finished. First I have a confession to make, I have an exam tomorrow and i spent like half the day working on this Fic...I'm i dumb or what. Sighs. **

**Anyways I hope that this story was enjoyable to all although it may have begun a little more on the depressing side. I apologize for the grammar or spelling mistakes as well, I'm really not a person who LOVES to proof read. **

**Ohh Also please do review! Its my first Fanfic after all! :D **

**Have a great day everyone!**

**-xwhitemoonx**


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